About this project

$3,810

pledged of $3,000 goal

114

backers

UPDATE! Project fully funded! Beak vinyl is officially a reality - it's no longer a "maybe". Get your copy now. Order from this page and become a backer!

It's definitely the best way to get our music in your hands, as well as some shirts and your name on a poster and to be a direct supporter of independent art. Thank you to all who have helped us get here - by your posts, support and pledges. Absolutely awesome.

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Hello friends, fans, and family. As you know, we are Beak, a metal band hailing from Chicago. Our record, Eyrie, will be released this April, 2012. We are trying to raise money to have the album pressed on vinyl and into your hands, so we've set up this Kickstarter project. Your contribution - which allows us to manufacture the vinyl record - buys you "Eyrie" in the format of your choice: cd, digital download, or vinyl. Your contribution is also a direct and very real vote of support for independent music - an endeavor that more than ever relies on direct support of the people who value it's cultural contribution. By becoming a backer, you will literally become a producer of the record. UPDATE! ALL KICKSTARTER BACKERS WILL BE LISTED AS PRODUCERS ON A GIANT LIMITED EDITION POSTER! Poster will be included with the vinyl record only. See image at the bottom of this page. UPDATE! VINYL ART UPLOADED! See images at the bottom of this page!

First single / music video"Hands Collide" directed by our drummer Chris Eichenseer

Writing & Recording

Eyrie is a record we spent a year writing and a year recording. We painstakingly produced the record to capture our sound. We recorded it at Engine Studios, where our guitarist Andy has worked for many years as an engineer, a place that boasts the finest engineers in the country - Brian Deck, Neil Strauch, Sanford Parker, etc. Neil, who has recorded luminaries like Bonnie Prince Billy, and who is a master of sound and subtlety, engineered this recording - his first metal project and one that he truly hit out of the park. This record sounds amazing - huge guitars, huge drums, enormous bass tones.

The Art

The artwork for "Eyrie" was created by our drummer Chris in the vein of the Hipgnosis and Asia album covers of his youth. He's created art for 40+ albums, turning heads the world over. For this one, ironically, while he was teaching a course in album cover design in Monterrey Mexico, he journeyed into the surrounding mountains and came back with this image. There were actual birds circling the peak as he shot it just after sunrise. This image speaks volumes - it's monolithic, while also invoking not only the name of the record "Eyrie" (defined by Webster as a nest of a bird of prey or a high and inaccessible place) but also the triangles and symbology of the band. It's "Beak" on every level imaginable.

Justin Fines, a good friend of ours and a renowned master of type design, donated the triangular typographic logo that will live with us forever. It is elegant and simple and beautiful.

Why vinyl?

We love vinyl records. Vinyl is the best format to consume music - the presentation of both the artwork and sound is beyond comparison to the other formats. But the trick is the cost of manufacturing vinyl records and their distribution. This is why we turned to Kickstarter. As we all know, there are virtually no record stores left in this country, which makes distributing a record very difficult. And the cost of making them is high. With Kickstarter, however, we can solve both of these problems at the same time, and bring an epic record onto vinyl and into your hands. Where it belongs.

Beak is a metal band featuring Chris Eichenseer (drums), Andy Bosnak (guitars), Jason Goldberg (bass, keyboards, and vocals), and Jon Slusher (guitars, vocals). We've poured everything we have into the making of this record. We sincerely hope that you enjoy it.

Thank you again,Beak

Early reviews for "Eyrie"

"Beak will jump to the top of the list of the best Chicago metal bands because of this one." Reckless Records

"...Beak is ready to lay their claim as the next great
post-metal band." Read the full review at LMP MAG

"This band came from out of nowhere for me and blew me away." Read the full review at Stereokiller

"Eyrie is likely the best twenty-five minutes of metal we will come across in 2012." The Silent Ballet

"The degree of alternating violence and tranquility in these five songs is both astonishing and unsettling, and it is what makes Eyrie so memorable." Sea of Tranquility

"(They) are on the road to greatness and nobody is going to stand in their way. Brilliant…another contender for one of 2012 best records." Sludgelord

"On their debut album, Eyrie, Beak make a compelling case to be the only new metal band to watch in 2012. Eyrie is a 5-song aural journey that is filled with not only unbridled intensity but also gorgeous passages expertly executed." Popblerd

"One word describes this debut EP by Chicago foursome Beak: brutal. Five songs, no filler, all sorts of post-metal power not heard of since the battle flag of Neurosis was picked up by Boston natives Isis and later Cult of Luna." Boston Phoenix

"Eyrie... is a majestic blend of styles and textures that deftly vaults between billowing atmospherics, polyrhythmic prog and face-melting noise." Emusic

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

We will make you and a guest a special BEAK dinner. Signed Digipak CD, Signed Vinyl, Digital Download, T-shirt, Beak stickers & a handful of multi-colored 1" buttons, 11x17 color Poster + guest list to all of our Chicago shows for a year.